Canary in the coal mine part 2: Perth fires “out of control” and threaten homes; Victoria reels from floods

Children scream at their father to evacuate (The Australian)

While the Eastern seaboard is being flooded, in Perth they are battling fires. Residents we’re given just 20 minutes to flee from fires:

PEOPLE were given just 20 minutes’ warning that a rapidly moving bushfire would hit their homes yesterday, as a blaze swept through Perth’s southeastern suburbs, destroying or damaging at least 40 houses and threatening 100 more.

Firefighters tackled two massive fronts, which ignited at opposite ends of the city, after a hot spell and strong winds pushed the bushfires out of control.

Many homes in Roleystone and Kelmscott, on the city’s southeastern fringe, were ablaze.

The Fire and Emergency Services Authority said 40 homes were last night confirmed destroyed or damaged. There were unconfirmed reports that up to 60 properties had caught fire as the flames moved rapidly, generating massive plumes of smoke.

At least 12 people have been hospitalised with smoke inhalation.

On the northeastern fringe of the city, around the suburbs of Millendon, Brigadoon, Baskerville and Red Hill, another blaze threatened homes and more than 100 people were evacuated.

VICTORIANS are being urged to be patient and prepare for long delays when they return to work and school today, with authorities warning flood-damaged and closed roads could make this morning’s commute difficult.

Police, SES and VicRoads have asked drivers to consider leaving earlier or much later than usual this morning to help mitigate delays caused by road closures.

The impact of road closures would be worsened with tens of thousands of students returning to school.

Despite the rain knocking out ten train lines on Friday night, Metro said the damage had been repaired over the weekend and the network was running at full capacity today.

The badly disrupted Sandringham line was re-opened yesterday at 4.30pm and repairs to 10 damaged trains were finally completed. A V/Line spokeswoman said services returned to normal yesterday and were running on schedule this morning.

But as the morning peak hour began on the city’s roads today, VicRoads warned of major disruptions.

But are there signs that the views of your local flying monkeys are changing as a consequence of all of this?

Re attributing the confluence of major weather events to climate change, Krugman put it nicely:

“Obligatory disclaimer: no one event can be definitively assigned to climate change, just as you can’t necessarily claim that any one of the fender-benders taking place right now in central New Jersey was caused by the sheet of black ice currently coating our roads. But it sure looks like climate change is a major culprit. And it’s not just the FSU: extreme weather elsewhere, which again is the sort of thing you should expect from climate change, has played a role in bad harvest around the world.”

Don’t forget the Antarctic, Adelady, as some Aussie scientists just reminded us. This is actually quite ominous.